How Much is Security Worth?

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has announced a campaign, called “Five Days of Freedom,” to organize thousands of security officers in Los Angeles. The move is aimed at getting better wages for Los Angeles’ security officers, 70% of whom also happen to be African-American and often live in L.A.’s poorest communities. The union estimates that if security officers earned what unionized janitors in the county make, which is at least $12 an hour plus healthcare, it would mean $100 million flowing into South L.A., where many security officers live, alone.

Over a two week period, organizers are trying to gather about 3500 signatures, or more than half of all the working security officers in the county. The signatures take the place of having a formal vote on unionizing. The union is also trying to organize security officers in other American cities, including Washington, D.C.

Getting decent wages for security guards is also a good policy in post-9/11 U.S., where private security guards can be responsible for protecting critical infrastructure like nuclear power plants and oil refineries. According to a Congressional Research Service report, in 2003 security guards provided by contractors were paid on average $19,400 a year, which is well below the average salary for all occupations in the country.

Given how important the job is and that low pay in the industry has been linked to poor job performance and high turn-over, it maybe, just maybe, might be a good idea to get these men and women a reasonable paycheck. Making minimum wage certainly doesn’t seem commensurate with the responsibility of providing security, whether it’s protecting a potential terrorist target, deterring thieves from setting their sights on multi-million dollar office buildings, or keeping sketchy characters from bothering residents in an apartment building. For a country obsessed with safety, we sure don’t seem to be putting our money where our mouth is.

For more information:
SEIU
L.A. Times
CRS report

The Real Union Facts Update

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has released information relating to its FOIA suit for emails and documents relating to the Department of Labor's (DOL) connections to Richard Berman, executive director of the anti-union Center for Union Facts. CREW decided to request the information after a Washington Post column by Al Kamen reported that an aide in DOL's public liaison office sent an email to DOL employees identifying the Center for Union Facts' website as "dedicated to providing information on labor unions and their expenditures."

The documents show that there was a very friendly relationship between Berman and DOL. According to the executive director of CREW, “[t]hese documents make it clear that under the leadership of Secretary Chao, the Department of Labor has become anti-labor." For the whole story, check out CREW's website.

Money, Money, Money, Must Be Funny, in a Rich Congressman's World

Congress has again failed to raise the minimum wage, meaning many workers will continue to struggle to support their families on an unlivable wage. The Senate rejected proposals to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour, or alternatively to $6.25 an hour; House leadership won’t even let the issue come up for a vote. $5.15 an hour for a 40 hour a week job comes out to a yearly salary of $10,700, close to $6000 below the poverty line for a family of three. To put it in perspective, with gas prices what they are, it could conceivably take a full day of work at the federal minimum wage to fill up the gas tank on an average car. The thought of finding housing in a decent neighborhood or affording healthy food on that little income is even more disquieting. For some workers, the situation is not so desperate. 18 states have taken it upon themselves to raise the minimum wage, but that doesn’t mean all workers in those states are making a living wage.

Given their refusal to so much as throw a bone to American workers, it’s interesting that last week House members gave themselves a raise so that they now make almost 16 times what a minimum wage worker makes in a year. By the way, that would be the eighth raise Congress has given itself during the same decade that the federal minimum wage has remained stagnant. And those raises don’t take into account the other perks of being a member of Congress, like top notch healthcare and extravagant “business” trips and dinners paid for by corrupt lobbyists. Nor does it include what members make off of side deals related to their work in Congress. Just today the Washington Post reported that House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) made $2 million from selling land near a highway project for which he secured earmarked funds. With all their wealth, it's no wonder some in Congress are so out of touch with American workers and the public at-large, who strongly support a raise in the minimum wage.

Winery Has Sour Grapes Over Union Contract

Next time you imbibe a nice glass of wine with dinner or after a hard day of work, you might want to think about the workers who help make that tasty beverage. Workers at the Charles Krug winery are in the midst of a fight for their rights to be represented by a union. They face losing their jobs, which is all the more tragic for those workers that have invested more than half their lives working at Charles Krug. The winery, which is the oldest in Napa Valley and has been operated by the Peter Mondavi family for three generations, has been resistant to the United Farm Workers’ representation of its workforce since the 1970s. The workers last union contract expired in December 2005 and the winery has now threatened to fire the workers on July 1. Charles Krug wants to hire a vineyard manager that brings his or her own non-union crews. Many vineyards have turned to this method of procuring workers, no doubt due in part to the fact that they don’t have to provide benefits to the crews. The UFW previously boycotted Gallo wines because of a similar issue and subsequently was able to negotiate a contract for Gallo farm workers. The union has said it may use the same tactic in its struggle with Charles Krug. The United Farm Workers has filed suit against the winery, but the workers still face a battle.

For more information:

The United Farm Workers Action Center
San Francisco Chronicle

UPDATE:
UFW union members have called for a boycott of Charles Krug-Mondavi products. To learn more, go here.

The Real Union Facts

The AFL-CIO recently came out with a report shedding some light on the misinformation being espoused by anti-union organizations such as the un-aptly named “Center for Union Facts.” You can check out the report here.

Special thanks to the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee for permitting us to link to this report.